PLEA’s Law 30 Resource Portal

Indicators for this outcome

(a) Explore possible root causes of crime (e.g., addictions, violence, abuse, trauma, poverty, gangs).

(b) Assess how shifting worldviews have contributed to changes in understanding of right and wrong and the effects on legal systems/criminal justice.

Lesson 1.1: Youth Justice: An Introduction from Teaching Youth Justice (LT1-a, LT1-c)

(c) Discuss how certain actions are criminalized or decriminalized using a variety of cultural perspectives.

Prohibition and Liquor Regulation from The PLEA: Revisiting Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town

(d) Describe the various goals (e.g., rehabilitation, reparation, sense of responsibility, acknowledgement of harm done, deterrence) of sentencing and justify appropriateness in given situations.

Victims > Victims of Crime > Criminal Trials > Sentencing (CR1-k, CR2-f)
Crime and Punishment: Marge in Chains from The PLEA: Learning about Law with The Simpsons (CR1-k)

(e) Discuss alternatives (e.g., parole, probation) to incarceration available to convicted offenders in relation to rehabilitation.

Understanding Parole
Victims > Victims of Crime > Criminal Trials > Parole
Crimes and Fines > Criminal Court > Parole, Statutory Release & Criminal Records

(f) Identify the various sentences (e.g., discharges, suspended sentences, conditional sentence orders, incarceration, electronic monitoring, community service hours) possible within the Canadian justice system and evaluate the appropriateness of a sentence given a particular case.

Victims > Victims of Crime > Criminal Trials > Sentencing (CR1-k, CR2-d)

(g) Explore how rehabilitation, reparation, sense of responsibility and acknowledgement of harm done to victims and communities are reflected in the goals of restorative justice.

Hammurabi's Code: Was it Truly Justice? from The PLEA: Hammurabi's Code (FL1a, FL1-i, CR1-j)
Dealing with Universal Issues: Achieving Justice in Antigone from The PLEA: Book Club
Lesson 1.4: Extrajudicial Measures from Teaching Youth Justice (CR2-l, LT1-c)
Lesson 1.5: Extrajudicial Sanctions from Teaching Youth Justice (CR2-l, LT1-c)
Extrajudicial Measures and Extrajudicial Sanctions from The PLEA: The Youth Criminal Justice Act (CR2-l)

(h) Debate if imprisonment is an effective way to change long term human behavior

(i) Examine factors that contribute to the over-representation of Indigenous people in the justice system.

(j) Investigate the purpose, process, limitations and importance of Gladue factors on the determination of a sentence.

(k) Justify the appropriate use and effectiveness of plea bargaining in the criminal justice system.

(l) Examine the effectiveness of various correctional models (e.g., custody, maximum-security, minimum-security) and programs (e.g., substance abuse intervention, sex offender treatment, literacy development, work experience, treatment courts).

Think Local: Pandemics and Prisons from Albert Camus' The Plague: The Learning Resource (CR1-l)
Lesson 1.4: Extrajudicial Measures from Teaching Youth Justice (CR2-g, LT1-c)
Lesson 1.5: Extrajudicial Sanctions from Teaching Youth Justice (CR2-g, LT1-c)
Extrajudicial Measures and Extrajudicial Sanctions from The PLEA: The Youth Criminal Justice Act (CR2-g)

(m) Analyze the purpose, impact and validity of crime statistics.

(n) Explore the impact of the Jordan decision (2016) as a measure to improve the effectiveness of the Canadian justice system.